Bound buttonhole



Sept. 4, 1956 5, J, KETTERER 2,761,403

BOUND BUTTONHOLE Filed Dec. ll, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet l .Fnsi/1.5M vom IN VEN TOR. Stan ley l Eeuw/1er 'IIIIIIL ATT (JRNEY Sept. 4, 1956 s. J. KETTERER 2,761,403

BOUND BUTTONHOLE File-d nea. 11, 1955- 2 sneek-sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

ATT RNEY United States Patent O BOUND BUTTON-HOLE Stanley J. Ketterer, Stratford, Conn., assignor to The Singer Manufacturing Company, Elizabeth, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application December 11, 1953, Serial No. 397,536

1 Claim. (Cl. 112-264) The present invention relates to a method of lnishing bound or piped openings and the stitched seam produced thereby, and particularly to a method and seam readily adapted for machine sewing.

The manufacture of piped openings such as bound or piped buttonholes is, at present, primarily a hand-stitching operation and, therefore, relatively expensive. The present invention relates to one of the operations in the manufacture of piped openings and particularly bound buttonholes, namely the finishing operation in which the facing or backing material is stitched to the piping strip about the opening, and is primarily directed to providing a method and seam whereby the above stitching operation may be performed by machine.

Accordingly, it is the primary object of this invention to provide a method and seam specifically adapted to be used in the finishing operation in the manufacture of bound or piped openings, such as a bound buttonhole or simiiar article, which method and seam are readily adapted for machine sewing.

Having in mind the above and other objects that will be evident from an understanding of this disclosure, a presently preferred embodiment of the invention is hereinafter set forth in such detail as to enable those skilled in the art readily to understand the function, operation, construction and advantages thereof when read in conjunction with the "ccompanying drawings in which:

Figs. 1-9 illustrate the various steps in forming the blank of a buttonhole or the like, Figs. 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 and 8 being perspective views in which Fig. 1 illustrates the cutting step, Fig. 2 illustrates the step of stitching the piping strip to the base material, Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate opposite sides of the blank after the piping strip has been pushed through the opening in the base material, Fig. 7 illustrates the step of stitching the end tabs to the piping strips and Fig. 8 illustrates the completed blank, and Figs. 3, 6 and 9 being section views taken substantially on the lines 3 3, 6-5 and 9 9 of Figs. 2, 4 and 8 respectively.

Fig. l is a perspective View of a completed buttonhole or the like made in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. ll is a section view taken substantially on the line H*11 of Fig. 10.

Fig. l2 is a View similar to Fig. 10, but showing the opposite side of the article.

To provide a fuller understanding of the present invention the method that is disclosed and claimed in the copending application of Darwin G. Smith and Stanley l. Ketter, Serial No. 395,956, filed December 3, 1953, of making an unfinished buttonhole, herein referred to as a blank, upon which a nishing operation in accordance with this invention is to be performed, is hereinafter described and illustrated in Figs, 1l0 of the drawings. It is to be understood that the disclosed method is exemplary only and does not constitute a limitation of the invention. Other methods of producing a similar blank can be found in the patents of Zilinsky, No. 1,945,104, January 30, 1934, and Altobelli, No. 2,388,516, November 6, 1945.

ice

In Fig. l there is illustrated the rst operation in the making of the blank, which step comprises cutting a base or body material 1 at the point where the button hole is to be placed, said cutting producing a linear slit 2 cornmunicating at each end with the apex of a pair of di- Verging slits 3. Thus, there is produced in the base material 1 opposite pairs of tabs, i. e., the end tabs 4 and the side tabs 5 which are severed from the body material on all but one side, i. e., along the linear fold lines 6 and '7 respectively.

The second step in forming the blank comprises stitch ing folded piping strips 8 and 9 upon that face of the base material which is to be exposed in the completed garment. The strips 8 and 9 are positioned and stitched as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 by lines of stitches lll that run parallel to and for substantially the length of the fold lines 7. Following this operation, the strips 8 and 9 are pushed through the slits in the base material to the opposite face thereof as shown in Figs, 4, 5 and 6. In the previous operation, in which the piping strips are stitched to the base material, the fold edges thereof are spaced from the lines of stitches 1d a distance substantially equal to the width of the side tabs S so that when the strips are pushed through to the opposite face of the base material, the fold edges thereof will abut along a line lying substantially at the longitudinal center of the rectangle formed by the fold lines 6 and 7. It will also be seen that, when the piping strips S and 9 are pushed through the slits of the base material, the tabs 4 and 5 are carried with them. The tabs 4 and S will be bent along the fold lines 6 and 7 away from that face of the base material which will be exposed in the completed garment and will lie between the base maten'al 1 and the piping strips 8 and 9. Thus, upon the normally exposed face of the base material there will appear a rectangular opening that is substantially closed by the piping strips, the fold edges of which abut along the longitudinal centerline thereof.

The final step in the forming of the blanks is stitching the tabs 4 in the desired positions. This can be done by folding the base material away from the one tab 4 and the adjacent portion of the strips 8 and 9, as seen in Fig. 7, and then running a line of stitches 11 through the same closely adjacent to the fold lines 6. When this operation is repeated for the opposite tab 4 and the parts are returned to a ilat condition the blank is completed and will appear as shown in Fig. 8 with the stitches 11 shown in Fig. 9.

ln a completed garment it is customary to provide a facing material, such as 12, or as more commonly known, a liner, on the inside or on the side opposite to that normally exposed in the completed garment. The finishing operation in the making of a bound or piped opening such as a buttonhole from the blank as shown in Fig. 8 consists in securing this facing about the buttonhole. The facing material 12 is preferably cut in the same manner as the base material 1, as shown in Fig. 1, at the point which, in the iinished garment, is positioned opposite the buttonhole blank of the base material and the resulting tabs are folded inwardly between the piping strips S and 9 and the inner surface of the facing material 12 to form a rectangular shaped opening similar to the opening in the base material 1 and also closed by the piping strips 8 and 9. Heretofore, the facing material has been secured in this edge-folded condition by hand stitching it to the piping strips on the inside thereof in such a manner that the stitching would not show through on the exposed side of the garment. In accordance with the present invention, it is proposed to eliminate this relatively costly hand operation and substitute a machine operation therefor by providing a novel seam that is readily adapted to a method of machine stitching.

It will be understood that the stitching which is used to secure the facing material normally should not be visible on the exposed face of the Work to mar the appearance thereof. Also, normal stitching mechanisms operate from both sides of the work and would, therefore, be visible upon both sides of the Work. In accordance with this invention, the facing material 12, after being properly positioned with respect to the base material, i. e., with the openings therein opposite each other, is secured about the buttonhole opening therein by stitching 13 which passes through the edges of the, facing material about the rectangular opening and through the piping strips 8 and 9 as closely as possible under the fold edges of the tabs 4 and 5 in the base material 1,.as seen in Figs. 10-12. It has been found that by this method the stitching 13 can be readily performed by conventional stitching mechanisms but that it is still virtually invisible from the exposed face of the goods it will also be seen that a substantially stronger seam has been produced by the use of through stitching, but still the appearance of the finished garment has not been marred by the stitching. Through stitching as understood in the art and as used in this disclosure and in the appended claims is stitching that passes completely through the work from one face thereof to the other, that is, in laying the stitches, the needle enters one face of the work and emerges on the other face of the work.

Numerous alterations in the method and seam as herein disclosed will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art. However, it is to be understood that the present invention relates to a preferred embodiment of the invention which is for purposes of illustration only and not to be construed as a limitation of the invention. All such modifications which do not depart from the spirit of the invention are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claim.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim Iherein is:

In a bound buttonhole or the like, a base material having slits defining tabs which are underfolded along fold-edges to define a rectangular opening, piping strips having folded edges, said piping strips extending across the fold-edges of said opening with the folded edges of said strips disposed in substantially abutted relation and secured to said base material by two parallel lines of through stitching passing through the piping strips and tabs along the fold-edges at the long sides of the rectangular opening, a facing material in contact with said piping strips and having an opening in registry with the base material opening, and through stitching securing said facing material to said piping strips within the projected area of said base material opening, said stitching passing only through both plies of said folded piping strips and through the edge portions of said facing material about the opening therein and being arranged closely adjacent to the fold-edge of the base material about the opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Breul Mar, 16, 1954 Silverberg Apr. 27, 1954 OTHER REFERENCES 

